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The Can't Miss Sports Blog!

C.O.C. OVERVIEW

I got my start in sports in 2007, while acting as P.A. Announcer for the St. Joe Blacksnakes Minor League Baseball team and writing recaps of the games for the team's website.

Hey (insert your name here)!

I do appreciate you taking the time to visit my blog. So go ahead, make yourself comfortable, and enjoy the sporadic writings of someone who truly loves sport.

Now, those who know me can tell you, and you will soon gather, that I am not the most concise person. However if I had to describe myself in one word it would simply be – storyteller.

It is through the art of storytelling that Jesus was able to describe advanced theological concepts and put them across in a way that anyone could understand which allowed Christianity to grow to it’s present state. It is stories that drive us to the brands we are loyal to and the athletes that we love. Whether we know it or not, before we ever buy the actual product, experience, or brand itself we buy the story we’ve been told. Everywhere around us stories are being told and I am nothing more than a guy just trying to contribute a sentence.

As much as I am a fan of sports, I am also a sports marketer. As enthusiastic as I am about sponsorship activation, I also am deeply passionate about the social issues of sport. I am just as likely to tell you about what a player getting drafted first overall means for fantasy sports as I am to tell you how that reflects on society. I am as happy talking about what happened in sports today as I am talking about what happened in sports 100 years ago. As much as I like to talk, I really love to write and it was from my writings that the idea for “Can of Corn” was born.

When I played Little League growing up… Scratch that.

I am a die-hard Twins fan but you do not miss out on an opportunity to use Ozzie Guillen's phone!

When I was sitting on the bench while my team played Little League baseball growing up (there’s nothing like good ol’ fashioned honesty), there was an old man who would always yell out “Can a corn!” everytime a lazy fly ball was hit to the outfield. My fellow baseball enthusiasts know that can of corn is baseball slang for a “can’t miss catch” and more than anything I want this to be a “can’t miss blog.” A blog written by the overzealous sports fan for the overzealous sports fan. (Though if you’re a casual sports fan or not a sports fan at all, welcome! I don’t discriminate.)

When I said I was going to start Can of Corn, my friends asked me:

“Is this going to be about fantasy sports or what’s actually going on?”

“Are you going to focus on the on-field product or the business and marketing side of things?”

“Are you going to be doing social commentary on current events in sports or will you be looking for a way to make light of certain happenings?”

“Are you going to be objective or will your Midwest sports bias be evident?”

The best answer I can give you to all four of these questions is simply: YES.

To satisfy the variety of interests I have, Can Of Corn will consists of 9 main types of stories/posts:

Not named for Mantle and Maris (or Mauer and Morneau) but for Mark M. and Carl M., friends of mine in grad school who always asked questions like, “If you could build your team around any one player who would it be?” M&M Gems are meant to be fun conversations that you know you’ve had once or twice with your friends at a sports bar or in a restaurant.

Simply put, Kicking the Can posts are my opinion on a recent sports issue, whether it’s who I think should win the Cy Young or NBA MVP or it’s about concussion prevention in sport. This is my commentary on everything going on now in sport.

The Know-It-All Guy is reserved for the fantasy sports rantings and ravings of our own fantasy guru, Kyle Stafford. This is a great place to get advice on sleeper picks, valuable waiver wire pick-ups, trades you should make and more.

Much like an old attic or basement you never know what you are going to find. Being someone who loves history Attic Corner will be stories that talk about past athletes and/or accomplishments. Think Paul Harvey meets History’s Mysteries.

In the future I see myself making sports predictions and giving fantasy sports advice in the Nostradignan column. Speaking of predictions, the Pittsburgh Penguins will never win the World Series.

As someone who loves to travel and has already visited 11 MLB stadiums in the past year, Hotfoot will provide a review and advice about sports venues and their cities.

Inspired by the likes of The Onion there is not much I enjoy more than good satire. I do see fake news and mockumentaries as having value. Much like an actual Funyun, these stories are meant to be similar to their inspiration but nowhere near as good. Expect a lot of Funyuns to come in the form of Tweets.

As a sports professional, I am always excited to have conversations about best marketing practices, developments in social media, or unique sponsorship activation platforms. Though I plan to focus more on the sports side and less on the business side, Farmer’s Market will be a place to touch on the business side of sports.

As I mentioned, I have some of the greatest friends a guy could ask for and some of them enjoy writing and are probably much better at than I am. Every once in awhile, I hope to bring in guest columnists to give some variety to this blog and give me something fun to read. Middle Relief posts could really be about anything – fantasy sports, marketing, social issues in sport, satire, anything really.

I write because I have an opinion but like you I also read because I have an opinion and certain things that I read help to formulate my opinion. Survey Says is nothing more than good old fashioned straw polls. I plan to try to post new polls throughout a given week. Follow me @can_of_corn to get updates on new polls.

At the end of the day, I blog on Can of Corn to engage the reader. I blog in the hope you have as much fun reading as I do writing.

Some writers write to entertain, some write to persuade, and yet others write to inform.